Babe Ruth was the most famous player in the history of baseball and is widely considered the greatest ever all-around player. His Major League Baseball (MLB) career total of 714 HR (home runs) held the all-time record for 39 years until 1974. Ruth’s career 0.690 SLG (slugging average) still commands the MLB record. SLG is determined by dividing total bases by at bats. Babe’s career 1.159 OPS (on base plus slugging average) is still a MLB record. OPS is determined by adding the hitter’s on base percentage (number of times a base is reached by any means divided by total plate appearances) to his slugging percentage (total bases divided by at bats.) Babe Ruth is the only player in the history of baseball to have masterted both the arts of pitching and hitting.
